The John Hopkins University published a study this year showing that smoking affects the growth of the fetus. The study was done on 2,478 fetuses at different stages of the pregnancy. What was interesting is that mothers who smoked and stopped before 12 weeks of pregnancy had fetuses with shorter femur (only bone of the thigh).
In our bodies, we have two femur bones directing from the hip towards the knee of each leg. The longer the mother smoked, the greater was the reduction in femur length.
So, mothers… You have been planning for this baby for a while, why put him under unhealthy environment from the first moments of conception.
The right behavior would be to stop smoking from the moment you decide to conceive a baby because not only should you be worried about stunted you baby might turn out to be, there are more pronounced risks. These include a possible miscarriage because the cigarette’ carbon monoxide will prevent the oxygen from reaching your fetus. Other damages can be seen in the lungs and brain of the fetus. This includes babies born to very weak lungs.
Also, mothers who smoke (or are exposed to secondhand smoking) have a bigger chance in delivering their baby too early which has too many risks. Babies might even be born very small (lowbirth weight) which might lead to an unhealthy baby and child.
So, a woman who is eager to become a mommy should stop smoking way before becoming pregnant and should never be present in an area where there are secondhand smokers.
Take the right decision!
